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Hawkins, McNerney To Be Honored By WAC This Weekend

Hawkins, McNerney To Be Honored By WAC This Weekend

Hope Rogers (right) with MA Sorensen in 2016. Alex Goff photo.

06.08.2018 - Alex Goff

The top two college rugby players in the country will be honored Saturday in Seattle.

The Washington Athletic Club began sponsoring the Rudy Scholz Award and the MA Sorensen Award for the top men's and women's college rugby players (respectively) in 2016. That year, Dylan Audsley of Saint Mary's and Hope Rogers of Penn State were honored.

Last year, Bryce Campbell of Indiana and Ilona Maher og Quinnipiac received the awards. All four of those players have since been capped by their country (Maher the latest, this weekend in Paris for the USA Women's 7s team).

The Rudy Scholz Award is named after Rudy Scholz, who won Olympic gold in rugby in 1920 and 1924 playing for the USA. He fought in two world wars, was a successful attorney, and a standout rugby player at Santa Clara. His rugby career started in his teens and ended in his 80s.

MA Sorensen was a trailblazing prop at William & Mary, and won a World CUp with the USA team in 1991. A stalwart for the USA, she was a player, coach, and medical professional (still is) of the highest order.

The Scholz and Sorensen Awards are selected by a combination of votes from the public and a panel of experts, with Goff Rugby Report editor Alex Goff overseeing the selections. The awards themselves are presented at a gala event every June at the Washington Athletic Club in Seattle.

This weekend, on Saturday, Hawkins, who led Lindenwood to a national 15s and a national 7s title, will receive the Sorensen Award as the nation's top women college rugby player, and Connor McNerney, who led Navy to one of its most successful seasons, will receive the Sholz Award as the nation's top men's college rugby player.